Mercer rides balanced offense, great running back play to remain undefeated with 38-21 win over Citadel

The No. 14 Mercer Bears ran the ball consistently and stuffed opposing rushers with ease to secure a 4-0 record Saturday night, beating The Citadel 38-21 at Five Star Stadium in Macon.

A good crowd turned out for Mercer’s family weekend, filling up nearby parking lots and the stands for the Bears’ first home game since its Thursday night opener nearly a month ago.

“I want to thank all the students and everyone else for coming out,” head coach Mike Jacobs said after the game. “To get the full fan experience after the first week was awesome, it was tremendous.”

The lightning delay in the season opener thinned the crowd a tad, but fans came ready to rock Saturday night. They had plenty to cheer about, too, as Mercer finished with 433 yards of total offense in the win.

“There were pockets of the game there where we made some great plays and just played great in all three phases of the game,” Jacobs said.

D.J. Smith finished with 329 total yards of offense, 253 yards passing and 76 more rushing. The quarterback made good throw decisions and, aside from a pick six in the second quarter that but the Bulldogs on the board, led the team well in his latest effort after transferring in for this year.

“One of our goals was to protect the football. I don’t want a quarterback that’s sacred to rip it in there and throw it,” Jacobs said. “We completed a lot more balls over the middle tonight… I’d argue that was his best game in terms of management and performance.”

Some of those accurate throws came to running backs as well. Tyrell Coard caught two touchdown tosses for a big night.

“It felt amazing to get back out there and do what I do best,” Coard said. “As a running back, a lot of running backs think it’s just running the ball, but run blocking and catching the ball is also important as a running back, too. Me doing those things and contributing to my team is very helpful, and I’m excited for it.”

Coard’s fellow running back Dwayne McGee also showed prowess on the ground, racking up 94 yards with quick moves, including multiple runs where he changed direction in the backfield for solid yardage.

Though Mercer’s defense looked somewhat vulnerable against the pass for the first time all season, the Bears still held Citadel to only 57 rushing yards and had their fair share of big plays. 

Citadel converted some third downs to end Mercer’s streak of stuffing teams to force punts, but the Bears made a handful of nice plays on fourth down that stopped the Bulldogs on crucial drives.

Linebacker Isaac Dowling added eight tackles to his career tally in another solid effort. Defensive back TJ Moore had six, along with an interception returned for a touchdown that changed the game just before halftime.

“Just locking in and understanding down and distance and having to get off the field,” Dowling said of the key stops on third and fourth downs. “Whether it’s fourth down or third down, we gotta lock in and do our assignments.”

Dowling is only two tackles shy of taking the second spot on Mercer’s all-time tackles list.

The toughest moment of the game went beyond football. Mercer defensive back Khalil Moody appeared to fall to the turf at one point during the third quarter with an apparent injury and was taken to the hospital via an ambulance.

“Obviously there was a significant medical event, we’ve heard that he’s doing better, it’s great to hear,” Jacobs said. “It really puts everything into perspective that this is just a game…I’m a dad to two young children, so it resonates and hits home. I look at every one of those players that wears orange and white as an extension of my own family.”

Some reports said Moody was alert at the hospital after the injury. After a roughly half-hour delay, both teams agreed to continue the game.

“Just understanding that things happen in the game of football. I’m just so thankful he’s okay, you know, thank God about that,” Dowling said about finishing the game after the injury. “We understood that if we were gonna finish this game, we’re gonna do it for him. Going out there for the last 15 minutes… we’re gonna play for him.”

As far as on-field performance, a clean first half gave way to some flags in the second half. The Bears hamstrung themselves a couple of times when given the chance to put the game away.

“Without seeing the film, there’s 10 penalties, and it’s unacceptable,” Jacobs said when asked what the team’s biggest adjustment will be. “We’ll be on them about every minute detail until we get it fixed.”

Early swings give way to big scores

Both teams had their fair share of big momentum swings in the first half. The Bears looked to be in firm control early, as their second drive featured two big chunk plays — a fleet-footed run with nice cuts by Dwayne McGee, then a pass from Smith to Coard for a slick 21-yard score.

Griffith punctuated the touchdown with his 52nd straight extra point, a new Mercer record, and the Bears took a 7-0 lead.

Citadel had trouble moving the ball on its first few drives. Quarterback Johnathan Bennett overthrew a few receivers, and the Bulldog backs had no room to operate out of the backfield. 

Citadel tried to manufacture some momentum with a fake punt on its third drive after facing fourth down, but Scooter Risper read the trickery and broke up the pass in man coverage.

Mercer took the ball right down the field on the ensuing drive thanks to another solid running back pass play, this time a bubble screen to C.J. Miller that went for 37 yards. 

After Parker Wroble took it down to the 1-yardline on a catch-and-run, D.J. Smith punched it in on the quarterback sneak under center to put the Bears up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Everything swung the other way early in the second quarter. Though the Bulldogs still failed to move on their first few sequences, they repeatedly pinned Mercer deep with solid punts to bottle up the Bears’ offense.

Citadel then drove deep into Mercer territory midway through the quarter to reach the 1-yardline, but a bad handoff gifted the Bears a turnover to keep the shutout going. The swing was short-lived, however, as D.J. Smith tossed an untimely interception to the Bulldogs’ Dominick Poole that went for a pick-six and Citadel’s first points of the game.

The Bulldogs then stuffed Mercer again before everything clicked on offense, with Bennett hitting longer passes he’d overthrown in the opening quarter to put Citadel inside the Bears’ 10-yardline. A 6-yard pass sealed the deal and, with a tie game, made the contest look much different just before the break.

Mercer would have none of it. With about four minutes left before halftime, the Bears marched down field and reached paydirt thanks to a funky hook-and-ladder play that put Coard in the end zone for the second time.

Though the Bulldogs had about a minute to make something happen, it meant little — Mercer team captain TJ Moore jumped a route on Citadel’s very first play from scrimmage to give the Bears a pick six of their own just before half. Mercer gladly took the new 28-14 lead into the locker room.

The Citadel gave Mercer a prime opportunity to extend its lead to start the half when the Bulldogs elected to go for an onside kick, as the ball sailed out of bounds to give the Bears great field position. 

Though Mercer squandered the chance with penalties and the Citadel drew within one score with a touchdown, the Bears bounced right back and struck for their own score thanks to a 20-yard rushing touchdown by D.J. Smith, who cut and juked his way through a cluster of Bulldog defenders to extend the lead.

After the half-hour injury delay, Mercer snuffed out a Citadel drive with a big sack before kicking a field goal to make it a three-score game. The Bears stopped a last-gasp Citadel drive in garbage time that made it inside the Mercer 25-yardline to secure a 38-21 win.

Mercer is 4-0 for the first time since 2013, its first such start since joining the Southern Conference in 2014. The Bears moved to 2-0 in the conference, adding on to their win in the conference opener last week against ranked Chattanooga on the road. Mercer hits the road again next week to face Wofford.